Listings are outstripping sales across the Austin metro, but the urban core is showing more resilience than outlying areas.
Sales volume and prices are dropping throughout Central Texas, while listings proliferate, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. Austin isn’t immune to these trends, but its declines are shallower.
Home sales are down, with 5,122 homes sold in Austin this year, 5.7 percent fewer than the first half of last year. Meanwhile, year-to-date sales dropped 6.3 percent in Travis County and 8.3 percent in Williamson County, marking a greater sales decline in the suburbs than in the capital. Sales declined 9.6 percent in Bastrop County, with 118 homes sold this year to date, and the 219 homes sold in Caldwell County represent a 20.4 percent decline compared to the first half of last year.
Hays was the only county where sales increased, with 2,346 homes trading this year so far, representing a 0.2 percent increase.
Median home prices fell to the north and south of Austin, but the city held strong with a median price of $590,000, the same as last year. The MSA’s overall median price fell to $439,000, a 2.4 percent decline compared to the first half of last year. Williamson and Hays counties saw declines exceeding 2 percent.
“A balanced market, historically, has been about six months of inventory, and we’re approaching that,” said Brandy Wuensch, president of the Austin Board of Realtors. “While we’re not officially in a buyer’s market, it is favorable for buyers right now.”
The metro has 5.5 months of inventory, and Austin has 5.7 months.
The median home price in Central Texas held steady at $450,000 in June, and inventory is rising, said Kendall Garrison, CEO of Amplify Credit Union.
“The market may not be booming, but the volatility is easing, and a sense of stability is starting to take hold,” Garrison said.
